1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golf club head and more specifically to a putter head employing an extruded body, detachable hosel and face, extended heel and toe weighting, and provision for mounting additional counterweights.
2. Background of the Invention
Golf club heads are traditionally made by investment or sand casting. Afterwards they are ground, polished, and detailed to a desired finish. Alternately, the entire club head is machined from a solid block of metal.
While the above mentioned methods produce an acceptable club head, there are several disadvantages in both methods. The cast club head involves the making of a master model club head from which a mold is made. The mold is filled with wax, producing a replica wax head which is then removed from the mold. The wax head is then dipped into a binder solution and covered with fine sand. Several dipping and coating cycles are required to build a ceramic xe2x80x9ccocoonxe2x80x9d to form a shell of sufficient thickness to accept poured metal. This built-up takes several days; it is labor intensive and has fairly high rejection rate.
Finally, the wax is heated and poured out of the shell, leaving a cavity to be filled with molten metal. When the metal has cooled, the shell is broken off and the resulting metal head goes through several stages of grinding and polishing operations before it is ready for shafting.
The so-called milled head is milled out of solid block of metal making it the most expensive way to fabricate a putter headxe2x80x94most of the steel is wasted in the manufacturing process. This type of putter head is typically gun-metal blued or plated.
The desirable properties for putter are basically sound and feel. While these qualities are highly subjective, most golfers prefer a putter to have a soft touch and feature parameter weighting which reduces the club head twist if the ball is struck slightly off-center. The development of a putter which addresses these concerns and incorporates the desirable qualities listed above, represents a significant improvement in the manufacturing process and playability of the putter.
The present invention represents an improvement in the field of golf club head design. The modular design of the putter incorporates a main body made of extruded material, preferably aluminum, which determines the general shape of the putter head. The striking face and the hosel can be made of different alloys or synthetics. Accordingly, the objects and advantages of this invention are: To eliminate the traditional casting or excessive milling operations by constructing the main club head of extruded aluminum or various plastics, which can be cut to suitable thicknesses, to achieve desirable weight ranges. To improve the balance of the putter head by maximum heel and toe weighting. This feature makes the putter head less prone to twisting when the ball is stuck off-center. Additional weights can be attached behind the hosel bracket using the same mounting screws. Without departing from the basic design, the putter can be made left or right handed by simply reversing the ninety degree bend of the hosel bracket